The best waste is no waste.
Stephan MARTINEZ
Creator of Moulinot
Waste recovery
Created in 2013, this Paris-based company specialising in the recovery of organic waste from restaurants was the winner of the 2017 Grand Prix de la finance solidaire in the Societal Innovation category.
Paris – France
Waste recovery
Noting a lack of food waste separation in restaurants, Stephan Martinez decided to create Moulinot, a socially conscious company for processing bio-waste.
In 2007, he took a master composter training course in Belgium. Now, he knows all about bacteria, earthworms and organic waste. He can also tell you how much nitrogen and carbon each plant and soil type requires.
Much of the waste recovered by the company is processed to produce bio-gas for electricity and heating. The rest is treated with vermicomposting, using earthworms, to provide quality fertiliser. This “luxury” compost is redistributed to vegetable producers around the capital and amateur gardeners in the form of small bags of bespoke fertiliser.
A whole fleet of gas vehicles
With 22 employees and an innovative organisation perfectly suited to dense urban contexts, the company operates throughout Paris and its surrounding regions. Small vehicles collect waste seven days a week from 400 collection points and deposit them in conveniently located containers. Large trucks then take them to processing sites throughout the Île-de-France.
The organisation owes its effectiveness to several factors. Firstly, it operates sorting at source. Bins are made available to restaurant staff to promote selective sorting. Secondly, an on-board weighing system allows waste to be paid for on a per-kilo basis rather than with a flat rate. Lastly the organisation benefits from Stephan Martinez’s dedication as an ambassador for the benefits of sorting as a solution to waste.
Nearly 4,000 tonnes of bio-waste were collected in 2017 from local authorities and over a hundred catering professionals. That is double the 2016 amount. Collections are carried out in around a hundred school canteens to raise awareness of bio-waste recycling amongst staff and pupils.
A greener future
In December 2015, Moulinot landed a contract for waste collection from COP21 in Paris. Twenty tonnes of waste were collected and 100% repurposed. The company followed this up with a contract with the European Football Championship in 2016. Two major success stories.
But this socially-committed company is not stopping there. It has just opened Ile-de-France’s first composting plant for the recovery of food waste from restaurants.
Have benefited
from an investment of
400 000€
A été accompagné par
France Active, PIE
By 2017
It’s here
Stories
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Founding CEO of AfB France
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Frédéric BARDEAU
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Stephan MARTINEZ
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Putting digital to work fighting for inclusion and employment
Frédéric BARDEAU
President and co-founder of Simplon.co
Teaching, training
Simplon.co is a computer coding school with a solidarity mission that identifies, trains and facilitates the integration of school-leavers in disadvantaged areas.
Montreuil – Seine-Saint-Denis – France
Teaching, training
The start-up Simplon.co has set itself the ambitious objective of identifying needs within the digital market to find opportunities to train and integrate school leavers in disadvantaged areas.
Certified as French Tech, Simplon.co has been providing training in digital professions since 2013. Free and open to all, its courses last from six to 12 months and are based primarily on practice and mutual support. It targets “jobseekers and school-leavers in working-class neighbourhoods, rural areas and French overseas territories, and aims to recruit equal numbers of men and women” says Frederic Bardeau, co-founder of the company.
Their method works! This socially minded computer coding school trained nearly 800 people in the four years following its creation. Of these, 78% found work less than six months after completing their training. The Montreuil-based web school is now being contacted by partner companies and local authorities. To respond to their requests, Simplon has created a network of 34 such initiatives throughout France. “We want to roll our model out across France, Europe, Africa and the Middle East” says Frédéric Bardeau.
France Active has supported the development of the company’s activity. After an initial equity loan of €75,000 in 2015, France Active Investissement led Simplon.co’s first round of fundraising in 2016. The project enjoyed a capital investment of €750,000 from France Active Investissement and key support from a pool of seven investors, including the Caisse des Dépôts, to the tune of €4.75 million.
Have benefited
from an investment of
1 000 000€
from a solidarity loan of
75 000€
Were supported by
France Active
By 2015
By 2016
It’s here
Stories
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Eric LAUR
Founding CEO of AfB France
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Frédéric BARDEAU
President and co-founder of Simplon.co
Simplon.co is a computer coding school with a solidarity mission that identifies, trains and facilitates the integration of school-leavers in disadvan…
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Stephan MARTINEZ
Creator of Moulinot
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Vanessa BRANCHEREAU and Amélie PIETRI
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Jules and Antonin STRAUMANN
Creators of Au Pré des Frères
The Straumann brothers produce and sell organic and diversified vegetables, promoting little-known varieties in particular.
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Alexandre SCHMITT and Christine ODINOT
Co-founders of the Maison des Sages
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Bernadette PAUL-CORNU and Jean RUCH
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Another life, another chance
Eric LAUR
Founding CEO of AfB France
Business services
In 2012, Eric Laur, a truly social entrepreneur, created AfB France, inspired by a German concept that aims to limit the environmental impact of obsolete IT equipment. In 2014, it won the Grand Prix de la finance solidaire.
Annecy – Haute-Savoie – France
Business services
Founded in Annecy, AfB France specialises in computer reconditioning that offers sustainable jobs to people with disabilities.
“Some had been looking for work for more than two years or were long-term unemployed. We are very proud to have helped them reintegrate the workforce”, says Eric Laur.
AfB France collects end-of-cycle IT assets from local authorities and key accounts. The company sorts, checks and repairs the equipment before giving it a second life. “We sell 70% of the equipment collected in our stores, via the Internet or to wholesalers,” explains Laur.
Laur discovered the business model in Germany, on a trip taken after he himself had lost his job. Laur was supported by the German branch in the beginning as well as Adises Active, France Active in the Pays de Savoie. In 2016, France Active provided capital as a long-term investor and became part of its governance. “The support of a solidarity finance-provider like France Active is precious,” explains Eric Laur. “It began before the company was founded and has continued through every stage of our development“.
The network has now supported the company’s scale-up and the creation of two new AfB France sites in Caen and Grenoble in addition to Annecy. “We want to work more closely with our partners to help create local jobs,” concludes Eric Laur.
Have benefited
from a guarantee of
90 000€
from an investment of
350 000€
from a solidarity loan of
110 000€
from a grant of
40 000€
Were supported by
France Active Savoie Mont Blanc
France Active Auvergne-Rhône Alpes
France Active
By 2016
By 2015
By 2012
It’s here
Stories
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Eric LAUR
Founding CEO of AfB France
In 2012, Eric Laur, a truly social entrepreneur, created AfB France, inspired by a German concept that aims to limit the environmental impact of obsol…
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Frédéric BARDEAU
President and co-founder of Simplon.co
Simplon.co is a computer coding school with a solidarity mission that identifies, trains and facilitates the integration of school-leavers in disadvan…
All the stories >
Stephan MARTINEZ
Creator of Moulinot
Created in 2013, this Paris-based company specialising in the recovery of organic waste from restaurants was the winner of the 2017 Grand Prix de la f…
All the stories >
Vanessa BRANCHEREAU and Amélie PIETRI
Creators of API LsF (Professional Agency for Sign Language Interpreters)
Developed as a cooperative, Amélie Pietri and Vanessa Branchereau’s API LsF was created to promote the development of French sign language. Operati…
All the stories >
Jules and Antonin STRAUMANN
Creators of Au Pré des Frères
The Straumann brothers produce and sell organic and diversified vegetables, promoting little-known varieties in particular.
All the stories >
Alexandre SCHMITT and Christine ODINOT
Co-founders of the Maison des Sages
Since its inception in 2014, La Maison des Sages has offered an innovative alternative to shared housing for people with Alzheimer’s disease, in the f…
All the stories >
Bernadette PAUL-CORNU and Jean RUCH
Co-Directors of Familles Solidaires (Family Solidarity Association)
Familles Solidaires was created five years ago by a group of family caregivers of disabled people. The goal: to support and encourage the development …
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Matthieu ESCUDIÉ
CEO of Eurofence
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Vincent PARET
CEO of Oasure
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